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The most amazing lady Patty Fletcher, has posted my Word Press Blog Article on her new venue – Word Press Wednesday. I am delighted to have one of my favorite little articles featured here on Campbell’s World. Thank you! This is a little gem in my treasure chest. Enjoy!

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I am re-blogging this message to SCAN-A-BLOG this morning. I like to SHARE the HAPPINESS of LIFE.
Thank you for this beautiful message.
Let’s all pay attention to the little glimpses and sounds of life all around us today.
Sight – Sound- Taste – Touch – BREATH –
Life is to live in awareness of the NUANCES.

Oftentimes, we fail to remember the things we should be grateful for in our lives. It’s human nature and we’re all guilty of it at some point. Typically, we tend to focus on our misfortunes, rather than counting our blessings. We take life for granted, forget how to live our lives to the fullest, as we should – with peace, love and contentment. We shouldn’t have to face a critical, life-threatening dilemma to realize and appreciate what we have. Unfortunately, it happens quite frequently, and when it does, that’s when regrets become present. They say the past is full of tears and the future is full of fears. I can surely relate as I have for many years however, I’ve learned to live in the present and make the best out of each day with the things in life that matter the most to me. It’s done me a world…

Rejections. We need them.

This article is a good perspective on the value of rejections for our writing submissions.

I view each rejection as a “NO” and I understand that each “NO” brings me one step closer to the “YES” I am aiming for.

Step out there and send your work out to the appropriate publications and see where you are after an entire year of sending work out.

Rejections are valuable to us – they bring us the publications we want if we keep on putting out our work.

For my first chapbook,

I sent out the manuscript to 13 publishers.

During the year, it was rejected 12 times. Finally, after exactly one year, the chapbook was accepted by a well-respected publisher and will be published later this year. I think of this as a “baker’s dozen.” A dozen rejections plus one acceptance letter. I am happy that the rejection was the final response to my 13 submissions. I know the value of rejections. We need them.

When I first began submitting to online literary magazines seven years ago, I had no idea how the process worked. I felt nervous and intimidated, and it took all of my courage to send something out. I’d submit to one publication, wait, think about the submission literally every day, and then feel dejected and possibly cry when I received a rejection weeks or months later.

Each time I saw a rejection in my inbox, I took it personally. I’d wonder if my writing was trash, if I should give up writing completely. It’d take me a few weeks to rebuild my confidence, then start the process all over, submitting my story or essay to another lit mag, then waiting. If three lit mags rejected something, I abandoned it, figuring the editors knew better than I did.

A rhyming title for an essay, you must wonder. Full disclaimer: I am a poet at heart; the crossover to writing and publishing a novel has been transformative, and I wanted to share some things I learned.

I won’t lie; it’s been exciting, humbling and exhausting. The release of my 12th book (but debut U.S. novel) Louisiana Catch, a story that centers around a sexual abuse survivor from New Delhi, coincides with the #MeToo movement. It’s on U.K.’s The Asian Writer’s “Books to Read in 2018” list. Frankly, I don’t know what’s in store for the book, but I do know that I have enjoyed the whole process and realized a few things along the way, specifically as it relates to publishing via a small press.

The problem is you: The lack of gratitude. I have seen writers apologize for their small press partnerships…

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Sharing the story of Donna W. Hill, a friend and fellow author.
My new copy of her book is right here on my desk. I am going to donate it to a middle-school in Kentucky, where my daughter, Ilsa Barry, is the librarian. It is a beautiful book!

Before I get into the afternoon’s work of outreach and networking, I’d like to just take a moment to properly introduce the latest member of the Tell-It-To-The-World Marketing family.

There will be much more to come from this totally talented lady, in the meantime, please if you would take a moment to get to know the lovely Donna W. Hill.

Donna W. Hill is an author, singer-songwriter, recording artist, speaker and avid knitter. She and her husband Rich live among the frogs and birds in Pennsylvania’s Endless Mountains with Donna’s guide dog Mo (their 3-year-old yellow Lab) and Goofus, their rescued strawberry blonde tabby.

Her educator-recommended novel The Heart of Applebutter Hill is a high school mystery with excursions into fantasy for middle school and older readers. It was reviewed in Future Reflections and Word Gathering magazines and in local papers and TV, including by students of…

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As we are closing in on the final days of National Poetry Month, I am sharing this delightful and insightful essay/poem by Alice Jane-Marie Massa today. I think you will bind it inspiring, hilarious and educational. Enjoy the day! Read a POEM.

With fireworks over Lake Michigan (near my townhouse) last evening and sunshine over the big lake (and through my windows) this morning, another poetic day has dawned. Have you taken or given “The Poetry Challenge”–“Willow’s Poetry Challenge”? If not, please read my post of April 23, Monday. By the way, in that Monday post, “P.C.” may represent “Poetry Challenge” or “Poetically Correct.”

Should “P.C.” also stand for “Poetically Critiqued”? Placing one’s poem in public–no matter the forum (blog, other online publication, magazine or journal, book, critique session, other literary meeting, open microphone session, poetry workshop, classroom, etc.)–opens the door to being critiqued.

The critique may range from a positive and easily accepted suggestion to a much too harsh negative comment, from an overly flowery compliment to an unfair criticism. With such a broad spectrum of possibilities of shared perspectives…

I am sharing the invitation to be a guest on Ann’s podcast and blog.
This is a special message for Authors.
Ann is now scheduling so don’t wait. Contact her to get more information on what she needs and how this might work for your book promotion.

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Blogger Patty L. Fletcher is the first to know about the prestigious award I received recently. I have not yet sent out official press releases but have been sitting on this news for some time. I wanted Patty to be the FIRST to know for she has been a wonderful friend. Thank you, Patty for your blog feature. I am re-blogging this to SAN-A-BLOG so that my readers now know about this awesome surprise I received.

Since I have retired from academia and no longer lecture across the country at conferences, I was never expecting something like this. But, God has always delighted in giving us special surprises when we least expect them. I am most grateful for this award at this time in my life.

Thank you to all of my friends who encourage me and inspire me every day. You have blessed my life in so many ways.

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I am sharing this excellent article on writing.
It is particular relevant to those who might be struggling with Writer’s Block. But, the advice here is useful for us all as we plug away at our writing day by day. Enjoy!

Definitions get a bum rap, probably because we all remember the clunkers we’ve seen (and perhaps written ourselves) in high school papers, superfluous definitions arriving with all the grace of a Zamboni machine blundering into the opening moments of a figure-skating competition.

You know the kind of definitions I’m talking about:

“Shakespeare’s play Macbeth is a tragedy. Merriam-Webster (Eleventh Edition) defines tragedy as: ‘1. A disastrous event. 2. A serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (such as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror.’”

But definitions have their uses, not only in ensuring that the reader and the writer are both working from a common understanding of key terms, but also, in some cases, even aiding the writer with topic discovery and the organization of form.

In an e-mail this morning, poet Abbie Johnson Taylor, president of the writers’ group Behind Our Eyes, asked all the members/writers the following question, one which was posed to her by another blogger: “What does poetry mean to you?” In a creative manner, I try to give a partial answer to this question in my poem-of-the-day. Past the midway point of National Poetry Month, how nice to receive a prompt which I can use to meet my goals for NPM! This post will again conclude with five writing prompts, as well as the link for Abbie’s blog and the link for the website of Behind Our Eyes.